Zytronic desoldering stations; opinions?

[dorkshoei]

Opinions on these?  They are made in Taiwan which I find makes good quality items.  I really dislike the disposable Chinese stuff but my budget doesn't run to a Hakko station.

I read this teardown of the LF-8800 here.  I also found this thread on a pinball repair forum which stated that the earlier LF-8000 was pulling 25" mercury on it's built-in gauge.     I believe the pump runs on 120v rather than 12v that many of the Chinese units do.    7" mercury did not seem uncommon for the Chinese units on that pinball repair thread.

I'm not sure why Zytronic got rid of the built-in vacuum gauge on the newer 8800,  it seemed like a good feature.    I'm also not sure what the difference between the 8000 and 988D is?  They look the same.    I see spares for both listed at http://www.xytronic-usa.com

I saw a comment on the earlier thread "I found a couple Open box units at a good price" [referring to 8800].  What would be a good open-box price?  I see the 8800 is $347.58 new at Amazon right now.

I'll keep my eye open for a Black Friday deal but I kind of prefer the earlier version with the built in vacuum gauge though buying used is always a risk.     The used prices on the older units on eBay are pretty uncompetitive with the new 8800.

[Wallace Gasiewicz]

I think you mean Xytronic Soldering
We have one at the radio shop. Hot Air and Soldering.
The on/off switch broke
The transformer burned out, I substituted an old transformer since there is no replacement available
The heater on the hot air gun burned out twice
Maybe there is a durability problem?